Heavy rain accompanied the hail. Some minor flooding was reported across the area, especially in trouble-prone areas like Knoxville's Cross Park Drive.

Around 2:30 pm, Rural/Metro officials said a lightning strike stalled an ambulance with a patient on board. Officials say the ambulance was traveling on Cruze Road in South Knoxville when lightning struck either the ambulance or a nearby tree. A tree then fell across the road.

The crew called for assistance, but were able to get the ambulance running again. The patient was safely transported to Tennova Physicians Regional Medical Center in North Knoxville. The crew then took the ambulance to the Rural Metro Ambulance operations Center to be checked out by mechanics.

Chief Meteorologist Todd Howell says the severe weather threat should be over for the night, but heavy rain is still possible at times.

Todd says starting mid- to late-afternoon, the plateau and mountain counties should start seeing snow, and it could be heavy at times. Knoxville and the rest of the valley could start seeing snow fall in the late afternoon to early evening hours.

1-2 inches of snow is possible on the plateau, 2-3 inches in the mountains, and a trace to a 1/2 inch is possible in the valley.
Driving, particularly in the higher elevations, will likely become treacherous in places. Some black ice is also possible in the valley.

The winter weather advisory extends until 7 am Friday morning, though Todd expects the snow to taper off Thursday evening in most areas.